As the Lumenfall drifted deeper into the ring's heart, a chilling silence overtook the crew. The usual hum of the engines dimmed, replaced by an eerie resonance — like whispers echoing across the edge of reality.
"Something's wrong," Elias muttered, his fingers tightening around his weapon.
"No… not wrong," Seojun replied, his eyes distant. "It's listening."
Inside the ring, time twisted. Screens flickered with images of things that hadn't happened — yet. Hana saw herself standing before a broken Earth. Nova saw her mother, long dead, calling her name from a burning sky. And Seojun… he saw the Eye.
A voice entered his mind — vast, layered, like a thousand souls speaking at once.
"Bearer of the Seed… why do you seek what should remain lost?"
Seojun stepped forward, the Seed pulsing from within his chest. "Because we have no choice. The Architect Code is awakening — and with it, the end of everything."
A shape materialized at the core of the vault — a figure cloaked in shadows and starlight. It stood taller than any human, faceless, yet impossibly ancient. Around it, glyphs burned, hovering in mid-air like orbiting planets.
Hana whispered, "That's not the second vault… that's a Guardian."
The entity spoke again, not with words, but through presence:
"You seek knowledge. But knowledge has a price."
Suddenly, the floor beneath them vanished — not physically, but within their minds. Memories, fears, and truths they had buried were pulled from their souls and laid bare. They weren't in the ring anymore.
They were inside themselves.
And something… someone… was judging.
Nova screamed as a vision took her — a galaxy torn apart by the misuse of Architect technology. Seojun saw a future where he became the very weapon he swore to stop. Elias saw his betrayal — not of others, but of himself.
Then, as quickly as it came, the visions faded.
The Guardian extended its hand — and in it floated a crystalline key, shimmering with Architect script.
"The path to the Core lies through the Trial of Origin. Succeed… or let your stars burn."
With that, the vault opened — not a door, but a shift in space itself.
Seojun turned to his team. "No turning back now."
They stepped through.
And the stars behind them went silent.